Changed
by Alissa Thorn
Summary: Tessa Gray switched schools after not being able to bear the bully, William Herondale, at her old school. After four years she returns, but now as a grown-up, strong and beautiful girl. Will things between her and William Herondale change? WESSA, JESSA, AU, ALL HUMAN
1. Chapter 1 A New Start

**Changed**

**Summary: **Tessa Gray moves to America after not being able to bear the bully, William Herondale, at her previous school. With four years gone, she returns to the London Institute. Will things between her and William Herondale change?

**Quote: **"Change is not always accomplished peacefully, but that does not make it disadvantageous." (Clockwork Prince, Chapter 1)

(**Author's Note: **Hello, I decided this fanfiction needed a little bit of an update: layout, grammar, vocabulary. And as this is the first day of a new year: why not now? My previous chapters will be edited and online hopefully very soon. I hope you enjoy!)

**Chapter 1: ****A New Start**

_Love is a strange thing._

_It twists and turns what is not meant to be changed. It comes unnoticed and sly, sneaking its way into the mind and shifting with thoughts that claimed certainty._

Tessa balled her hands to fists, her fingernails digging deep into her palms, the shocks of pain preventing her from releasing her anger onto the person in front of her.

William Herondale was a cruel creature, inhuman in emotions, and unpredictable in decisions. His remarks did more damage than a knife would ever be able to do. Tessa knew that she should not let his words influence her in any way, as her aunt and brother told her from time to time again. But even with the great advise from her family -well, what was left of her family- the pain his words caused her would not, could not be prevailed.

_Words, _Tessa thought, _words can be beautiful, but most of the times, they are formed to destroy. Like tiny little shards of glass that seem so harmless they cut their way into your skin, your being. They carve out their own path of cruelty, and even when they are so small, they stay and create more pain than was ever predicted. No knife, no sword, no spear, no weapon can do as much damage as a simple sentence can. _

Tessa straightened her back and blinked away the tears of misery, which were about to fall and wet her cheeks. She was struggling with holding in all the emotions that yearned to break free. That was one of the things she admitted Will to be good at: concealing his true feelings.

"Stop." Tessa snapped, she felt just a little bit stronger as she said that, only the feeling lasted but a few seconds. Her voice threatened to shake; somehow, she kept it firm and steady.

"Stop it." For a moment Will looked unnerved, the lines at the corners of his mouth were harsh, as if he were suffering a great deal of physical pain. But then that was gone too. His features smirked at her, his triumph obvious.

Without another word, she spun on her heel and left, running as fast as she could. Tears were streaming down her cheeks freely; soon Tessa tasted salt from the drops that had reached the corners of her mouth and her lips. She threw herself against the door to the girls' bathroom and fell on the tiled, cold floor. Her brown hair was plastered to her face by the wetness of her tears, and her glasses lay on the ground. Tessa picked them up as she crawled to one of the corners of the room, praying no one would notice her.

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><p>Tessa was used to his remarks, he bullied her every day, but this time he had gone to far. He had crossed an invisible border in Tessa her mind.<p>

He could tell as much cruel things as he wanted to, but never, never had he insulted her family. Never had he ever brought up the fact that her parents were dead, that lots of her family members were gone.

Yet now, he had.

And it hurt, it hurt so much that tears would not fall. No, instead of cringing and fleeing, Tessa was angry, furious with him, and also with herself. And as those emotions racked her mind, she felt stronger than she had ever been before. And she had told the principal everything.

Mrs Branwell was a small, young woman with a strange sense of authority surrounding her. She had always been watchful when it came to bullying, and Tessa knew she must have known about William's actions. She also knew Mrs Branwell was waiting for the moment that she, Tessa, would bring the subject up. And right now, in the flash of all the frustration Tessa felt, she spilled it all.

Mrs Branwell had reacted in a way Tessa had not expected her to. Disappointment crossed her features more than any other emotion did, and she told Tessa to meet her in her office the next day after school.

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><p>As Tessa left the room and turned to the exit, two persons approached her, more specifically… <em>Gabriel Lightwood<em> and _William Herondale _stomped their way towards her_. _They hated each other, but right now there were looking quite the team. She knew she should turn away and run, for their faces weren't looking very cheerful, yet something held her nailed to the ground. Fear, she realised. Fear, because she knew why there were here. She closed her eyes, and hoped it would hurt less that way.

Two hands gripped her violently and brought them to her back, twisting her arms while doing so, and stings of pain ran from her shoulders down to the tips of her fingers. One of the other two hands she had been expecting slapped her in the face, hard. She urged herself not to scream out in pain as that same hand hit her again. Her eyes flew open and she was staring into the face of Gabriel. One glare was enough to cease her from saying anything.

The hands released her and shoved her forward.

"Don't you dare tell Mrs Branwell anything again." Will hissed, Tessa nodded weakly, and she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

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><p>"Let me get this straight," Mrs Branwell began, her bird-like face turning red with anger. She was livid, and Tessa shrank back in her chair.<p>

"_You_ both hit Tessa, because _you_ bullied her, and she had told me so?" Her glare flicked from Will to Gabriel, and back to Will. Will lamely nodded his head, and Gabriel managed a small "yes". Her frustration disappeared as quickly as it had come, and disappointment took its place.

"You are suspended from school for two weeks!" She exclaimed, and horror filled both Will's and Gabriel's eyes.

"But-" Will stammered. Tessa had never seen him so defeated. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a feeling she would never have considered ever feeling bubbled up. She pitied Will in this instant, and that flash of a feeling caused her to say the next.

"Don't suspend them, Mrs Branwell." She was aware of the pairs of eyes fixed upon her.

"It's not needed. I know this will continue, whatever reason Will and Gabriel have. I will leave this school immediately. My brother will contact you about this in the evening; I'm going home now. Goodbye." Tessa stood up with a certain kind of grace she never knew she had, and left the room in a hurry.

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><p>"Tessie? Are you sure this is the right decision?" Nate thumped down on the red couch in his living room. Nate was 24, and actually her cousin, but since her parents' death, she had grown up with him being there for her as a brother. He had his own apartment in London, and Tessa had lived with him from the moment he had become eighteen. Tessa nodded, although she wasn't very sure about it herself.<p>

"We will have to call Aunt Harriet if I can live with her in New York. I can go to school there." Nate smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately. Tessa returned his smile and hugged him tightly.

She would miss him, as well as she would miss Cecily and Sophie. But she would try to survive as best as she could.

"Goodbye Tessie, I will miss you. Have fun!" Nate told his cousin as they stood on the airport in New York, he embraced her and then helped her load her trunk into Aunt Harriet her car. Tessa stepped into the car, and waved through the window as the car drove away. To a new life.

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><p>(<strong>Author's Note: <strong>I hope you liked it! Feel free to Review, Follow & Favourite, I love you all, and have a nice day, Jill)


	2. Chapter 2 Around the Corner

**Changed**

**Quote: **"Change is not always accomplished peacefully, but that does not make it disadvantageous." (Clockprince, Chapter 1)

(**Auhtor's Note: **Hello, I can't tell you how much I enjoy rewriting this and being back here on the site. I decided to make Will a lot nicer, so Tessa will begin to question her judgement sooner rather than later. Enjoy this chapter! This chapter begins four years later than where the first chapter ended.)

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 2: Around the Corner<strong>

_Life is beautiful,_

_But then suddenly, when you turn a corner on the road of your journey, one single thing breaks down everything. And you are left at a new start, forced to make the best of the new road you are now following._

"No! I will not go back to that school. Not as long as William Herondale still walks around there alive!" Nate sighed and racked his hands through the fair strands of his hair as he tried to explain Tessa why she had no other option than to return to the Institute.

"Tessie, you know about my financial situation; Aunt Harriet's funeral needed to be paid, and she did not leave us any money. I questioned every school in London, and only the Institute is prepared to offer you a scholarship. I just can't afford any other school without a scholarship, I'm truly sorry," He plumped down unceremoniously on the red couch in his apartment, on which he and Tessa had talked so much, but never had they ever argued. Tessa sat down next to him, her elbows resting on her knees, chin leaning on her palms.

"I know you're right, Nate. It's just… I don't want to go back, I don't want everything to happen all over again. I'm just so worried life will be like hell, when it has been so marvellous back in New York." Tessa frowned a little, wrinkles appearing in her already tired-looking face.

"Well, that was before Aunt Harriet had to leave so immediately. I'm just lost, I don't know what to do to make things better." She scrunched her freckled nose at her self-pity. Nate almost laughed; even now she hated being weak, it was a feeling she had grown in New York, and he was proud of her because of that. He hugged his cousin from the side.

"I know you are lost, Tessie. That's because I am too." He mumbled and he let go of her, smiling reassuringly.

"Think about it, you would be able to meet Sophie and Cecily again. And I don't think anyone will recognise you at all before you tell them your name. As long as that new first impression is strong, you're fine." Tessa smiled back at Nate and thought about the opportunity of reuniting with her old best friends. It had been four years ago, when Tessa left all of a sudden, and much had happened it that time.

Tessa had moved to New York, to start a new life, but life had been surprising, as she had come to know family of some people at the London Institute. It was humorous and unreal to meet the people of whom she had heard quite some silly stories about. She had grown up and become much stronger, not to mention the great physical change she had experienced. Friends had forced her into having an actual social life, and she had gotten a boost in her self-esteem.

With having Isabelle and Magnus as friends came many advantages on the subject of beauty and fashion. If you could call being forced into clothing way out of your comfort zone an advantage. Yet Tessa had ended up with achieving long, wavy, soft-brown hair; a stash full of make-up basics for natural, every-day looks; and a closet full of clothing, at least half of which she wouldn't even dare to pull on.

Together with Clary and Simon, she had accomplished a constant, balanced self-confidence; and a trunk full of manga comics, not that manga was truly Tessa's thing, but Clary and Simon could be just as convincing as a person with a certificate for persuasiveness.

From Alec she had learned to accept herself for who she was, and to not care too much about other people's judgements.

Jace… Well, Jace had taught her, without out even meaning to, how to stand up for herself and handle incredibly handsome, sarcastic guys, whose self-esteem had gone a little bit over the top. Although Tessa didn't know so yet, this skill would come in particularly handy in the future.

A new life, a new school, and new friends had made such an extreme change that Tessa agreed it was difficult to recognise her; she sometimes hardly recognised herself.

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><p>Two days. Two days until Tessa would return to the Institute, two days until she would see her childhood bully again. It sounded absolutely terrifying, but somehow she wasn't half as afraid and nervous as she had thought she would be. Her trunk lay in the corner of her room, already packed. Tessa sighed; she had to leave most of her books behind, and that frustrated her more than anything else that was about to happen. Though after remembering all the hours she had spend in the massive library of the Institute, it didn't seem like such a big problem anymore.<p>

Tessa picked up her phone, looking at all the messages on the display. She had texted Sophie and Cecily a few days ago that she would be changing schools again. Yet she didn't tell them to which school she would go. Tessa grinned; she was curious if they would recognise her.

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><p>Will Herondale rolled his eyes at his sister as she hit him in the arm.<p>

"Watch out, I will drop this on your head if you don't stop." Cecily grinned devilishly and poked him in his side.

"Then you will lose the bet." She remarked and Will snorted, although he wanted to groan, because the trunk was pretty heavy.

"It's not like you could carry it anyways, little sister." He mumbled, and Cecily chuckled amused.

"Oh, I think you know I definitely can, _big _brother." And she nudged him with her elbow. Fortunately for Will, they were now by the taxi, and he could drop the trunk in the back. He again prevented himself from groaning by biting his lip, because if he did he would have to endure weeks of pestering from his younger sister. And that was worse than dragging twenty of those trunks to the taxi, not that they would fit.

He opened a car door, and collapsed on the seats, Cecily laughed at him from the other side, as she stepped in too, pushing Will away from her seat.

"Thank you, dear William, that was very generous of you. You have proved today that you _can_ be a gentleman, even when you mostly don't act like it." Will rolled his eyes skyward again, and Cecily grinned back just as wickedly as before.

"As if you're so ladylike, Cecy." Cecily sat up straight and pulled her T-shirt straight, folding her hands in her lap.

"I am very much a lady, Mr Herondale. You simply refuse to acknowledge it." Laughing, Will pulled the door closed, and told the chauffeur to start driving.

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><p>After fifteen minutes of sitting in comfortable silence and looking out the window, the taxi halted in front of an enormous building, which Will and Cecily knew as their school: the London Institute. They both got their trunks out of the car and dragged them along to the hall, where they could dump them, so they would not have to carry them all day.<p>

It was quiet in the school, for Will and his sister were always one of the first students to arrive, because their parents started working before the holiday was over. Clearly they were not the only one whose parents dumped their kids at school early, because a girl with brown hair was walking with her trunk in tow, while chatting through her phone.

When she moved closer Will noticed how tall she actually was for a girl, and she was not even wearing heels. With her simple white top, skinny jeans, and blue converse, she looked like a girl Cecily would befriend, instead of the usual stuck-up girls at the Institute.

"Jace, goddamn it, just hand the phone over to Clary, I want to talk to her." Her voice was a pleasant one, with an American accent, as she half scolded the boy named Jace through her phone. Apparently Cecily observed it too, because she pushed Will with her elbow, gaining his attention, and whispered.

"Jace, Clary, and a New York accent. Does that tell you anything?" Will immediately realised and nodded, not wanting to give in to the fact that his sister was quicker in connecting the dots than he was.

The girl pushed her phone in her pocket and discarded her trunk next to the other ones. She stood still a little awkward, obviously waiting for something.

"Hey." Cecily said. Oh yeah, that was what she was waiting for. Will acknowledged her with a slight nod, and let his sister do the introduction, knowing what was about to come.

"I'm Cecily, and this is my… _friend_, Will." The girl laughed, to both Will and Cecily's surprise. Will rolled his eyes at his sister for the umpteenth time.

"I'm not Cecy's… _friend_, I'm her brother. She likes to say it to try and embarrass me, but I assure you, I am entirely single." He reached forward and shook her hand. The girl looked utterly surprised at his behaviour, or was it his stunning looks? After a few seconds of silence, the girl responded.

"I know, Will. We've met before." Will frowned; he really could not recall meeting this girl, and he was sure that if he had met her, he would have remembered; a girl with such a length and casual look didn't go unnoticed at this school. His sister seemed to realise something though, because she perked up all of a sudden, and her eyes widened. She literally threw herself on the girl.

"No way! You sneaky, little thing, not telling me you were coming back!" The girls hugged, and Will stood aside, uneasily awaiting an explanation. When Cecily finally freed herself from the taller girl's hug, she was grinning like crazy. Will cleared his throat.

"Uhm, I really don't want to offend you, but I don't recall ever meeting you." Cecily's grin disappeared within a flicker of a moment, and swallowed. The willowy girl straightened her back, with her eyes full of fire. Will himself was startled for a second.

"I am Tessa Gray. It's very _nice _to meet you." Immediately everything clicked into place, and Will stared at her with wide eyes. Tessa Gray, the girl he used to bully when he was younger and stupid. He had learned from that mistake, his mother had given him quite the lecture, and one glare from his father was enough to realise he had done something gravely wrong. But what Will had never done was apologise for his actions. One, because Tessa had moved to America and two, because he didn't know how.

Now she was standing right in front of him, anger reflecting in her eyes. Somehow Will was happy it was anger she was feeling; disappointment would have been even harder to bear. It was evident that she was expecting at least an apology from him, but Will kept a silence. In Will's mind there were only two options available in this complicated situation: either run, or put on a guard. And since Will knew that putting on a guard wasn't going to better the situation at all, he ran. Well, instead of running, he staggered away rather lost, not knowing were he was going.

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><p>(<strong>Author's Note: <strong>Did you like it? Review, Follow & Favourite! A great thanks to Marie E. Brooke for pointing out some errors in my last chapter. Have a nice day, and I'll see you guys soon, Jill)


	3. Chapter 3 That Awkward Moment

**Changed**

**Quote:** "Change is not always accomplished peacefully, but that does not make it disadvantageous." (Clockwork Prince, Chapter 1)

**(Author's Note:** Hey there, how are you? I hope you guys are doing fine, and maybe this chapter will cheer you up a bit if not. I hope you enjoy!)

**(P.S. **I went to China with my Mandarin class and it was so awesome!)

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><p><strong>CeruleanCat: <strong>Thank you!

**BooksAreLife12345: **I know, right? I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**thedarkwhiteangel: **Thanks, but the Wessa won't appear for another few chapters, though there will be flashes. This is mainly still the warming-up.

**Angel: **I hope you aren't dead by the time you read this ;) I also hope you will enjoy this chapter.

**bottlecap26: **Thank you, here is the next chapter. I haven't discontinued this story, I just have very generous teachers when it comes to homework and tests. ;)

**Guest: **Thanks!

**EmmaJigs13: **Thank you. *blushes*

**varomitriva: **Here is the update, I hope you like it.

**gms14**: Here is chapter three, though this is mainly a warming-up for the story still.

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 3: That Awkward Moment<strong>

_That awkward moment,_

_When you forget what you are actually doing, and your instinct takes over._

"I am Tessa Gray. It's nice to meet you." Tessa was sure that by now her gaze was practically spitting fire at Will, but she couldn't care less. She also knew that the surge of triumph she felt when Will looked terribly startled was cruel, yet it felt so good to defeat him just one time. She had never been the person for revenge, though she had to admit that right now, revenge was pretty sweet.

The spark of victory left as quickly as it had come when Will strolled away. Instead, she simply did not feel anything at all. Cecily tapped her on her arm and indicated with her head to the secretary's office, next to the principal's. Tessa followed her silently, her thoughts running away from her.

After receiving their schedules on paper from one of the secretaries, they went to Cecily's dorm. After a casual conversation about their holidays, Tessa asked Cecily something she had been dying to ask.

"How has Will been?" Cecily smiled lightly, having known this question was coming. It might have sounded like a jealous ex-girlfriend questioning her ex-boyfriend's sister, but Cecily knew why this was an important question to her friend.

"He has changed, you know." Tessa nodded, her eyes focussed on the untied laces of her Converse.

"I noticed that. I was deciding if acted like he just did because he wanted me in his bed or if he had truly changed. Luckily the latter was the right guess then." Cecily and Sophie had kept Tessa updated with what was happening at the Institute, and the many rumours of Will's reputation was one of the mainly discussed subjects. Sophie despised Will more than Tessa did, and Cecily had been having a hard time trying not to call her brother nasty names. Eventually they had dropped the subject, which had been a true relief for Cecily. She knew about her brother's reputation at school, though she tried to ignore it as much as she could, which was quite hard, since dozens of girls tried to get to Will through her.

"I think he would have apologised, had you stayed here." Tessa studied her shoelaces again, and decided on tying them, instead of responding to Cecily's remark. She seemed to have regained her usual posture when she sat up straight again.

"Well, he had the chance a moment ago, and he didn't, so I am not going to forgive him yet. He has to prove that he has changed." Tessa continued speaking, before Cecily could even open her mouth to react.

"And proving does not mean you telling me great, heroic stories about what he did while I was gone." Cecily rolled her eyes and laughed together with Tessa.

"So I can't tell you how he saved us all from a sudden, alarming invasion of evil, cannibalistic ducks, who were threatening to take us captive, torture us, and eventually kill us, so they could have their breakfast?" Tessa grinned at Cecily's solemn look, remembering Will's terrible phobia of ducks. It was not like she had forgotten about it though, Jace's own fear for the cute, little creatures proved once again the biological relation between the two cousins.

"Save that story for another time, I have no intentions of wasting my time on listening to how Will saved you from his own silly fear." Both girls chuckled and Cecily snorted, her nose scrunching up adorably as she did so.

"As if you will ever want to hear that story. You're likelier to spend all your free time on reading stuffy, old -if not ancient- books." Tessa mocked a hurt expression at her friend, frowning at the friendly insult.

"My books are not stuffy or ancient! You know damn well how much I love Harry Potter." Cecily protested, but Tessa cut her off.

"Don't you dare try and tell me you don't like Harry Potter. I know you read all the books. Did you really think I wouldn't notice if one of my favourite books was constantly missing, only to be returned when the next in line had mysteriously disappeared?" The playful teasing continued going back and forth between the two friends, until Cecily finally gave up and admitted she did steal Harry Potter from Tessa's shelves about four years ago. She claimed it was the curiosity of her eleven year old she, that made her read the books, with that completely denying the fact she had endured at least three film marathons with Sophie and Tessa.

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><p>"When is Sophie coming?" Tessa eyed the students now present in the cafeteria, searching for a familiar face. It was her third day at the Institute, and more and more students arrived every hour.<p>

"She'll be here in about ten seconds." Cecily remarked, grinning at the girl that came almost skipping towards them, long, dark curls flying behind her. The scar on her face was evident, and Tessa cringed as she unwillingly remembered the painful and upsetting story Sophie and Cecily had shared with her in a video chat. Back then, the scar had been flushed red and fresh, whereas now it looked more like a silver ridged line pasted on to her left cheek, distorting her features slightly on that side of her face. It did not ruin her almost perfect face, but gave her something special, something that was part of Sophie.

Tessa did notice the way she walked as she came strolling towards their table, her head tilted a bit to the side, as if trying to hide her imperfection. She guessed it was because Sophie did not like the pitiful looks people would send someone like her. In that aspect, Sophie and Tessa were very much the same.

Sophie's brilliant hazel eyes widened suddenly when she noticed Tessa sitting at the table, next to Cecily. Tessa got up to greet her old friend, but Sophie had another thing in mind.

Like Cecily, she threw herself at Tessa, embracing the girl and practically squeezing her in her strong arms.

It was a particularly strange view to the boy who had walked in only a moment after Sophie had.

"Girls." His best friend muttered under his breath as they walked towards that same table. He noticed how Will harshly ignored the questioning looks the girl with the soft-brown curls threw at him.

The girl herself he had never seen before in the total course of his life, but as soon as he learned her name, he understood the gazes she had been sending Will, and the heart-warming embrace Sophie had given her.

"So you are Tessa. I wondered if I was ever going to meet the girl Cecily and Sophie talked about so much." Tessa smiled at him. Jem had explained her how he had come from the Shanghai Institute to the London Institute as a transfer student. "Why?" Tessa had asked, not able to stop the question from slipping from her lips. He had given her what she considered a sad smile and answered her with a slightly shocking response. Tessa learned in a quick period of time that Jem had not lived the most joyful childhood, and was surprised how gentle and sweet he was in view of his past. He was a perfectly well-mannered boy, with a smart mind and dazzling smile.

There was one thing that was bothering Tessa though: how on earth he could be best friends with Will. Maybe that was the change Cecily had mentioned two days ago, that he had opened up to one person. She found herself wishing for a look in Jem's mind; just to know what he considered Will to be. Or maybe Jem did not know anything about Will at all, but had Will taken him as a friend, since he did not ask any personal questions, like Tessa did.

With these thoughts circling through her mind, she blindly followed Cecily and Sophie out of the cafeteria.

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><p>"This is not going to work. My explanation is still better, Cecy. Do you want a high mark or not?" Tessa said half annoyed, half laughing at the ridiculousness of the conversation they were having. In all his madness, her Maths teacher had decided to give a "group-test", as he called it.<p>

It was supposed to be an experiment, which was meant to lead to higher marks and a certain motivation from the students. Not that the experiment was working the way Mr Ravenswood had planned it.

The whole of the class had been split up into pairs and Cecily and Tessa had miraculously ended up being a group. It was the second week of school and every reasonable student had already lost their good motivation. By now, half of the boys in her Maths class were yelling at each other about some of the ten Maths problems that were on the test paper.

Most of the girls had joined their tables together and were either gossiping or fixing their make-up. The ones amongst them who actually had a few brain cells at hand, had mastered both skills, and could do it at the same time, sometimes even sending the boys their interpretation of a sexy look while doing so.

The remaining of the class was surprisingly at work, although still at a louder volume than was necessary and possibly comfortable for the people in the classrooms next to theirs. Where Mr Ravenswood was, was a serious mystery.

Cecily and Tessa were trying to solve the Maths problems, but making a show out of it for Gideon, Jem and Sophie, who were also present in their class, but -except for Jem- terrible at Maths at that. Cecily was a Maths-mastermind and Tessa had for a change taken time to study the theory and apply it to some exercises of the homework.

They were stuck at the last Maths problem, simply because Cecily would not agree to Tessa's explanation and vice versa.

"I cannot believe you would be prepared to criticise my calculations, I know very well what I am doing, in opposite of your miserable scribbles!" Cecily screeched, faking indignation, her hands wildly gesturing to Tessa's calculations, which were in fact -compared to the mess that apparently represented Cecily's calculation and answer- quite neat.

Even though Tessa did not dare act as extravagantly as her friend did, she was good at playing the game, or at least good enough to bring Sophie to laughter that made tears spring out of her radiant eyes. In short, the entire classroom was one big mess.

"I give up." Tessa sighed, dramatically slamming down her pencil on her desk and shoving her chair backwards. She was secretly laughing on the inside, knowing Cecily's calculations were right, despite the chaos that came with them. But it was too funny to make her friends enjoy the show than to save her pride.

For all that she knew, which meant Cecily's stubbornness that matched her own, she and Cecily would have gone on with this discussion for the rest of the day, had no one stopped them, or, had Tessa not acknowledged Cecily's correctness. Cecily shot up from her chair and did a short dance of triumph in front of the class. Sophie, Jem, and Tessa whooped and Gideon whistled on his fingers, which caused the yelling boys to look up and watch Cecily as she gave Tessa two fingers.

The lost attention on the giggling part of the class then turned their caked faces and shot some very deadly glares. The leader of the gossip girls was just about to open her mouth and respond to the bizarre scene that was playing out in front of them, when the bell rang. The students all surged out of the classroom to their lockers and then the cafeteria. Mr Ravenswood was still nowhere to be seen.

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><p><strong>(Author's Note: <strong>I hope that was okay. I'll see you next time, have a nice day, Jill)


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